Kepeating-phonogbaph mechanism



J. M. NOEL. REPEATING PHONOGRAPH MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2, i920.

1,875,927 Patented Apr. 26, 1921;

Vii-b08155 barren stares PATENT FFICE. x

JOSEPH M. NOEL, OF PORTAGE BOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

REPEAT-ING-PHONOGRAPH MECHANISM.

Application filed. January 2, 1920. Serial No. 348,870.

To all i07 am it may concern:

lie it known that I, Josnrn M. Noun, a citizen of the United States, and residing in the borough of Portage, in the county of Cambria and State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered new, useful, and improved ltepeatiug-Phonograph hlechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in new and useful improvements in phonographs.

The object which I have in View is the adaptation of the phonograph to the playing of a record repeatedly without manual adj ustn ient between renditions.

Phonographs have become very popular for the Di'OClUCEiOD of dance music, and it is both advantageous and desirable to have the number repeated without a material intermission, under these or similar circumstances.

With this and other objects in view, I have provided the phonograph with means whereby when the needle or other groove engaging member has traversed the sound groove of the record from beginning to end, the sound arm is rotated on its axis for the remainder of the circle and the said member is again brought into contact with the sound groove of said record at its beginning.

' hloaus are provided whereby the groove euga jug member, hereinafter, for the sake I convenience, termed the needle, is out of contact with the rec: except the sound reproducing period, the means being adjustable, so that the needle may be caused to be properly engaged and iaintained in engagement with the sound reproducing grooves of records of diifcrent diameters or lengths of sound ren grooves.

are also provided whereby in case the n idle is lowered into engagement with U 'ooved portion of a record, said nee die is automatically moved into engagement with the sound groove.

Mean are also provided for automatically stoppii'ig the phonograph, said means being adjustai ile so that the record will be played one or iriore times, as may he desired, before t in machine is stopped.

Other novel features of construction and arrangement of parts will appear from the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, which are merely intended as illustrative of the principles of my invention without limiting the scope of the latter to the construction shown, Figure 1 is a plan view showing a phonograph embodying my invention, the needle being shown as engaging the beginning of the sound reproduclng groove of the record; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, partially broken away for the sake of clearness; Fig. 3 is a similar but fragmentary view, showing the needle raised out of contact with the record, the track being shown in end elevation; Fig. l is an elevation of the track end from which the needle is lowered into engagement with'the record; Fig. 5 is a detail of the adjustable brake actuating mechanism, and Fig. 6 is a detail of a modification.

The following is a detailed description of the drawings:

it represents the horizontal platform or motor boardof the phonograph under which, or as in common practice mounted on the under side of which, is the spring or other motor, or other prime mover, not shown.

B is the sound arm having its butt piv otally mounted so that the arm swings freely in a horizontal plane, said arm being capable of complete rotation. C is the sound hm; pivotally mounted on thefree end ofthc arm B so as to swing in a vertical plane. I have shown said boX C mounted ona goose neck L journaled in a cross bearing sleeve 2 secured to the end of the arm. D is the member carried by the box C and adapted to engage the sound grooves of the phonographic reeords. This member may be of any wellv known or suitable character, but for the sake of convenience and brevity, I will refer to it asthe needle. It will be understood that the vertical movement may be provided for in the sound arm itself, instead of between the sound arm and the sound box.

E is the rotary record table supported on the board A and driven in the usual manner by the motor, and F is a record mounted on said table.

G is a wheel horizontally 'ournaled on the vertical butt of the arm and provided with a circumferential pulley groove 3, engaged by a belt 4 which also engages a small pulley 5 on the upper end of a vertical shaft 6 extending up through the board A and driven by the motor, so that the wheel G is driven clockwise, or in the same direction as the table E, but at much slower speed.

H is a bearing sleeve whose outer end is provided with a laterally projecting, headed stud 7 which engages a transversely extending slot 8 in the upper end of a finger 9 rigid with and extending upwardly from the sound box C. I is a shaft journa ed in and protruding from both ends of said sleeve. The inner end of said shaft is provided with a friction gear wheel J whose perimeter is held in engagement with the top face of the wheel G by means of a bent-leaf spring 10 mounted on the arm B and bearing on the inner end of the sleeve H. 11 is a vertical-11g disposed keep mounted on the arm through which the free end of the sleeve H extends, thus limiting the vertical movement of the free end of the sleeve and preventing its lateral movement relative to the arm B. The outer protruding end of the shaft I is provided with a traction wheel or roller K which is ada ted to engage an incomplete circular track L, which is supported above the board A, as by feet 12, at a sufl'icient elevation so that the record F may be com vcniently slip ed under the track and fplaced on the table The top or rail sur ace of the track L is of such elevation that when the wheel K is running thereon, the needle D is raised above the record, so as not to contact therewith. The track Lintersects the position of the record table E, substantially as shown in Fig. 1, but for a space, corresponding roughly to the zone which is normally traversed by the phonograph necdle in playing a record, said track is interrupted, so that during the time the record is being played, the sound arm is moved in the usual manner by the contact of the needle with the spiral sound groove of the record. However, when the sound reproducing ortion of the said groove has been traversed by the needle, the wheel K reaches and' mounts the end of the track L, thus raising the needle out of contact with the record and by the traction of the wheel K on the track L, causing the sound arm B to rotate, preferably at a relatively slow speed, on its axis until the wheel K runs off of the other end of the track L and the needle I) is again lowered into operative contact with the sound groove of the record. It is thus evident that the record would be automatically played over and over again until the motor is stopped. However, records vary in diametcr and also in extent of spiral grooves, and therefore the interruption in the track, which permits the record being engaged by the needle, should be adjustable, so that the needle may be caused to engage the sound groove at the beginning of its sound reproducing portion and may be promptly elevated from the record at the end of the sound reproducing portion of said groove.

Therefore, I make the track ends adjustable to enable me to regulate the length and relative position of the track interruption. The mechanism which I have provided for adjusting the track ends is shown in plan in Fig. 1 and in side elevation in Fig. 4, in which latter figure the head of the operatin thumb bolt is cut away to show parts. hus, I provide extension members 13 slidably mounted on the track L which are provided with longitudinal slots 14 having a racked top wall which is engaged by a gear 15 on a thumb bolt 16 journaled in the track L. Thus, by turning the bolt 16 in the proper direction,the track end may be extended or retracted, as required. Thus the length of said track interruption and the position of its extremities may be quickly adjusted to suit the particular record about to be played.

To enable the wheel K to readily mount;

the track end when the record L has been; played, I provide such wheel with a short perimcntal tooth 17 which will engage the track end and assist the wheel to mount the same.

In use the track is adjusted to lift the needle at the proper moment by first starting the record to revolve, and while the record is revolving, laying the needle in the last groove of the record, and slidin the track end by means of the bolt and plnion until the track comes into contact with the wheel K, so that said wheel will climb up onto the track. Thus each time the playing of the record is completed, at the proper moment the wheel will mount the track and litt the needle out of contact with the record at the proper moment. After the track has been properly adjusted, the wheel K is placed on the track at the starting side of the record and the record will be played and replayed the desired number of times without further attention.

Sometimes, through carelessness or inattention in adjusting a track end, it may not be sufliciently extended to drop the needle into engagement with the outer end of the sound groove of the record. In this case the needle would be engaged by an ungrooved portion of the record and the sound arm would not move, thereby causing the phonograph to operate idly. To prevent such occurrence, I provide the track extension members 13 with a resilient wire frame 18 which is provided with a horizontal top chord forming a springy extensionofthetrack and upon which the wheel K will run w th suflicient traction to swing the arm while the weight of the sound box C and the wheel and its mounting will press down the frame 18 suilicicntly to hold the needle in contact with the record. Thus the needle, at the outer end of the groove will be automatically brought into engagement with said groove.

As a substitute or auxiliary means for enabling the sound arm B to be moved when the needle D is dropped onto an ungrooved portion of the record, I may, as shown in Fig. 6, attach to the sound arm B the downwardly bent spring arm 19 whose lower end is provided with a rubber or leather covered contact pad resiliently held in contact with the face of the driven wheel G, thus insuring the movement of the sound arm until the needle engages the sound groove, but in such a yielding manner as not to cause the needle to jump from the sound groove while the record is being played.

I also provide an automatic brake mechanism which causes the machine to stop when the record has been played the desired number of times.

Thus M is a brake shoe adapted to on age the perimeter of the record table to stop the same. Said shoe is pivotally mounted on the end of the thrust rod 20' which is slidably mounted in bearing blocks 21 on the board A. 22 is a helical spring coiled about the rod 20 between the front bearing block 21 and a collar 23 fixed on the rod, thus tending to move the rod longitudinally toward the left in Fig. l and engage the brake shoe M with the edge of the table E, "thereby halting the latter. The rod 20 is held in its illustrated position, with the brake shoe M retracted and the spring 22 compressed, by the engagement of the latch block 24 with the rear end of the rod 20. Such latch block is pivotally mounted between two standards 25 extending up from the board A so as to swing in a plane tangential to the path of the sound box C. A. helical spring 26 prevents accidental slipping of the block 24 from engagement with the end of rod 20.

27 is a stem pivotally mounted on the block 24 in such a manner as to be positioned either in the vertical position shown in Fig. 5 or to be swung into the horizontal position shown in Fig. 1 radially of the track L. If the stem 27 is turned up, it will be in the path of the protruding outer end 28 of the wheel shaft 1, so that as the wheel runs along the track and passes beyond the record table, it will engage the stem 27, and throw the latch block 24 out of engagement with the shaft 20, thus setting the brake and stopping the machine. If, however, the stem 24 is turned down, as shown in Fig. 1, the wheel willpass on .and the machine will continue to operate until the stem 27 is turned up.

To enable the machine to be set to play a record twice and then automatically stop, I provide the following additional mechanism: 29 is a second latch block pivotally mounted, in the rear of latch block 24, between the standards 25" so .as to swingin a plane tangential to the path of the sound box C. 30 is an angular extension or toe carried by the block 29 and extending forwardly and outside of the standards 25 so as to be positioned beneath the stem 27 when the latter is turned down, as shown in Fig. l. with a stem 31 pivotally attached so as to assume either the vertical position shown in Figs. 1 and 5, or to be turned down into a horizontal position toward the outer edge of the board A; Assuming the stem 27 to be turned down over the toe 30 and the stem 31 to be turned up, after the playing of a record, the end 28 of the shaft I would pass over the prostrate stem 27 without tripping the latch block 24 and would then strike the stem 31 of the block 29, tripping said block and causing the toe 30 to raise the stem 27 into its vertical position. After the next playing of the record, the end 28 of the shaft I would strike the now erect -27 and 30 can be turned down, so that the record will be played an indefinite number of times. The machine can be stopped at the end of a playing of the record by raising the stem 27.

It is evident that by providing a suiiicient number of latch blocks each adapted to throw the stem of the one in advance of it from its horizontal or inoperative into its vertical or operative position, the brake may be adjusted to permit the playing of a record any desired number of times before the machine is stopped. If the stems of the latch blocks are turned down, the record will be played over and over indefinitely.

It is evident from the foregoing that my invention may be incorporated in a phonograph structure with but little expense and that it will enable the machine to repeat the rendition of a record any desired number of times.

The mechanism required for the embodimont of the principles of my invention is very simple, contains no parts or elements liable to get out of order or quickly wear out, and it does not impair in any way the ornamental appearance of thephonograph.

Although, for the sake of clearness of explanation, I have minutely described the embodiment of the principles of my invention illustrated in the drawings, 1 do not The block 29 is also provided 7 wish to limit myself thereby, but claim broadly:

1. In a repeating phonograph, the combination of a sound arm rotatable on a vertical axis, a sound box mounted on the free end of said arm and movable on a horizontal axis, a sound groove engaging member mounted on said box, and means for rotating said sound arm with the sound box in an elevated position, said means including a part interrupted over the playing path of the sound box.

2. In a repeating phonograph, the combination of a sound arm rotatable on a vertical axis, a sound box mounted on the free end of said arm and movable on a horizontal axis, a sound groove engaging member mounted on said box, means for rotating said sound arm with the sound box in an elevated position, said means including a part interrupted over the playing path of the sound box, and means for regulatin said interrupted part to suit the sound grooves of different records.

3. In a repeating phonograph, the combination of a sound arm rotatable on a vertical axis, a sound box mounted on the free end of said arm and movable on a horizontal axis, a sound groove engaging member mounted on said box, a rotar record table, an elevated circular tracli concentric with the axis of the sound arm, and traction means connected to said sound box and running on said track whereby said sound box is caused to traverse said track in an elevated position, and said track be ing interru ted for a portion of its extent whereby said sound box is depressed bringing said member into engagement with the sound groove of a record mounted on said record table.

4. In a repeating phonograph, the combination of a sound arm rotatable on a vertical axis, a sound box mounted on the free end of said arm and movable on a horizontal axis, a sound groove engaging member mounted on said box, a rotary record table, an elevated circular track concentric with the axis of the sound arm, and traction means connected to said sound box and running on said track whereby said sound box is caused to traverse said track in an elevated position, and said track be ing interrupted for a portion of its extent whereby said sound box drops bringing said member into engagement with the sound groove of a record mounted on said record table, and means for regulating said interruption to suit the sound grooves of different records.

5. In a repeating phonograph, the combination of a sound arm rotatable on a vertical axis, a sound box mounted on the free end of said arm and movable on a horizontal axis, a sound groove engaging member mounted on said box, a rotary record table, an elevated circular track concentric with the axis of the sound arm, and traction means connected to said sound box and running on said track whereby said sound box is caused to traverse said track in an elevated position, and said track being interrupted for a portion of its extent whereby said sound box drops bringing said member into engagement with the sound groove of a record mounted on said record table, and means for adjusting the interrupted end of said track to suit the sound grooves of different records.

6. In a phonograph, means for repeatedly playing a record mounted on said phonograph, a spring actuated brake adapted to stop said phonograph, a-latch mechanism to hold said brake retracted and adapted to be engaged and released by a moving part of the phonograph after a playing of the record is completed, means whereby said moving part may be arranged to escape engagement with said latch mechanism, and means, adapted to be engaged and actuated by said moving part, in the rear of said latch mechanism in the path of said moving part, for restoring said latch mechanism to its position for engagement and release, whereby after the repetition of the playing of the record said latch mechanism will be released by said moving part and the brake applied.

7 In a phonograph, the combination of a sound arm rotatable in a horizontal plane, a sound box mounted on the free end of said arm and movable in a vertical plane, a sound groove engaging member mounted on said box, a rotary record table, means for rotating said sound arm with the sound box in an elevated position, the path of said movement of the sound box crossing the record table, said means being interrupted whereby said sound box drops to engage said member with a record on said record table, a spring actuated brake adapted to sto the phonograph, a latch block adapted to old said brake retracted, and a stem pivotally mounted on said latch block so as to be either turned down out of the way or to be turned up into the path of said sound arm, so as to be struck after the completion of a playing of a record, thereby setting the brake and stopping the machine.

8. In a. phonograph, the combination of a sound arm rotatable in a horizontal plane, a sound box mounted on the free end of said arm and movable in a vertical plane, a sound groove engaging member mounted on said box, a rotary record table, means for rotating said sound arm with the sound box in an elevated position, the path of said movement of the sound box crossing the record table, said means being interrupted whereby said sound box drops to engage said member with a record on said record table, a spring actuated brake adapted to stop the phonograph, a latch block adapted to hold said brake retracted, a stem pivotally mounted adapted to extend into the path of said latch block for turning up said stem whereby the brake will be set after the next playing of said record.

Signed at Pittsburgh, Pa, this 29th day of December, 1919.

JOSEPH M. NOEL. 

